5 things that might happen in WWE in 2019

WrestleMania season is here and the build to the big event has already begun. Seth Rollins stamped his ticket to face Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship and Becky Lynch won the Women's Royal Rumble match in order to challenge Ronda Rousey for the Raw Women's Championship in April.

Although she later was suspended 60 days and may subsequently miss the match she earned, Lynch will still likely be in the match along with Rousey and rival Charlotte Flair.

A lot of things will obviously clear up between now and April in regards to how WWE will shape up post WrestleMania.

The Superstar Shake Up that will follow WrestleMania will likely set the tone for the middle of the year in WWE.

But with so much changing in the world of wrestling (more promotions, WWE altering how they handle releases, superstars retiring), just what will the second half of 2019 hold? Here are some things that just might happen at some point in 2019.

---

#5 Drew McIntyre wins Money in the Bank

Will the Scottish Psychopath make good on his promise to become Universal Champion in 2019?

With his return to the main roster last year, big things were in store for Drew McIntyre. While he and Dolph Ziggler did win the Raw Tag Team Titles, the reign was short-lived. McIntyre hasn't really experienced much in the way of success regarding championships.

He's been booked as one of the top heels in WWE but hasn't seen any fruit come from his labor.

Since Seth Rollins could potentially (and hopefully) finally take the Universal Championship off of the intermittently appearing Brock Lesnar, Rollins will need challengers throughout the second-half of the year.

The Money in the Bank PPV is usually one of the most anticipated of the year because of the potential of a new superstar getting the chance to potentially be a top champ in WWE.

If booked correctly, then it is a precursor of things to come. But with the booking of the likes of Braun Strowman and Damien Sandow after they won the briefcase, it seemed like failed attempts to cash in on creating new stars.

WWE clearly needs to do that and not rely on stars from the past to save things. Heels work best as briefcase winners, and if McIntyre is going to be a champ in WWE sometime soon, winning the MITB briefcase would be the best way to clear his path towards main-event stardom.

#4 Horsewomen feud

The potential for a feud between the two factions of women could certainly happen later this year

The seeds have constantly been planted and the constant interactions between Ronda Rousey and members of NXT's Four Horsewomen have all seemed like they were setting up a feud in some way.

All members of the NXT group have battled Rousey in one form or fashion in the last year or so.

Although it may not happen at WrestleMania 35 or right after it due to Rousey taking a hiatus from the ring, a feud between the two factions of Horsewomen is certainly possible to occur in the second half of the year.

Marina Shafir and Jessamyn Duke are still learning on the job in NXT while Shayna Baszler is more than ready to join the main roster.

She might even lose the NXT Women's Title on WrestleMania weekend and debut on the following Raw or SmackDown.

When Rousey eventually returns, it would be easy to kick things off if she returned as a heel with her heel friends.

The fans will always cheer Becky Lynch and most of the rest of the Four Horsewomen of NXT, so it wouldn't be hard to have people invested in a potential feud.

Not to mention that it could either main-event a PPV or the second iteration of the Evolution PPV in the fall.

The women are still on the upswing in WWE and a huge feud between the two factions will keep things going that way.

#3 The New Day breaks up

Is time running out on the New Day?

Although they are still hugely entertaining and over with the fans, the whole 'stale' nature of the tag team division on SmackDown has been due to the New Day, Usos and the Bar dominating and basically monopolizing the tag team division.

While a split would likely hurt Xavier Woods the most since Big E is the total package and Kofi Kingston is a highly respected veteran who is more than overdue for a main-event run, Woods' potential is unknown.

Split angles can do big business if done properly like the original split of the Shield or when Evolution turned on Randy Orton and then eventually ate itself.

The eventual split doesn't have to necessarily involve one member turning on the others, but it could be an amicable split should it be booked that way.

Factions don't last forever and in order to 'shake things up', a member of the faction might get drafted to one show while the others remain on a different show.

Mr. McMahon just might want to change things since the ratings haven't been where he wants them to be, so don't be surprised if the New Day sees its last year together as a faction in 2019.

#2 Brock Lesnar leaves for the UFC

Lesnar will go wherever he can get the most money

Most fans in the WWE Universe are probably hoping this one happens. I am. But the main problem with Lesnar's status is that he's often waited until the last minute to truly squeeze as much money possible out of both the UFC and WWE.

And with All Elite Wrestling a potential third suitor, he might be in his best bargaining position ever. But the declining Raw ratings should certainly have told Mr. McMahon that not having a full-time Universal Champion has been one of the main reasons for the ratings dips.

Fans want to see the champ weekly and even though Roman Reigns' situation put WWE in a tough situation, they could have easily put the belt on Braun Strowman at Crown Jewel.

But they didn't, so they basically created their own untenable situation. Lesnar has already re-entered the drug-testing pool for a UFC return, so he might leave WWE after WrestleMania in order to try things out in the UFC once again.

Simply put, Lesnar has always operated on terms that were best for him and without care for the company he works for or his coworkers.

He's a businessman and will always try to net himself the most money, but when it's so blatantly obvious that you just don't care about the WWE, fans will rather see you gone than hold the company hostage.

#1 Several big names switch brands

The Kingslayer will have a big 2019

With SmackDown's move to Fox in the fall, it might turn what has been considered the 'B Show' (although it has been better than Raw a lot since the brand split) into the 'A Show'.

Fox is one of the major networks on television and getting a deal with one of the top networks was huge for the WWE.

Often only considered a secondary sporting event, the WWE has grown by leaps and bounds over the last decade.

If mainstream people don't believe it, all of the crossover stars that have shown up recently (Rousey, Rob Gronkowski, Matt Riddle) only prove that pro wrestling is a viable form of entertainment and sport.

Since SmackDown might become the flagship due to it being on a bigger network than USA and Raw, don't be surprised if this year's Superstar Shake Up sees the most big names switch brands.

Seth Rollins will hopefully win the Universal Championship at WrestleMania 35 and is the face of the company.

WWE will want to put some of the bigger stars on the show as well as stars who's characters are more about top-notch wrestling rather than soap operatic storylines.

Ronda Rousey will likely join SmackDown since she already practically conquered Raw in her first year. And not to mention that Fox wants the show to be more athletically focused on the sport.

So it's not conceivable that stars like Rollins, Rousey, Sasha Banks, Finn Balor and Bobby Lashley all are among the Raw stars to be switched over to the blue brand.